Goa declares zones near Old Goa, St Cruz as no-development areas

The Goa government has declared more than 4 lakh square metres of ecologically sensitive land near the protected heritage precinct of Old Goa and in St Cruz village as ‘no development zones’, effectively prohibiting construction and other development activities in the identified areas.

Town and country planning minister Vishwajit Rane on Saturday said the move was aimed at preserving environmentally fragile landscapes, including orchards, salt pans, paddy fields and mangroves, under Section 39(A) of the Goa Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act.

The Town and Country Planning (TCP) Board, through a notification issued on Thursday, declared around 1.02 lakh square metres of land surrounding Old Goa as a no-development zone. The notified area includes orchards and parts of an archaeological park located near the heritage precinct.

Old Goa, the former capital of Portuguese India, is home to several centuries-old churches and colonial-era structures and forms part of the UNESCO-listed Churches and Convents of Goa heritage complex.

In a separate notification, the TCP Board also declared around 3.37 lakh square metres in St Cruz village in north Goa as no-development zones. The protected land includes salt pans, mangroves and other ecologically sensitive stretches.

Rane said St Cruz was home to rich salt pans and traditional paddy fields that needed protection from conversion into settlement zones and real-estate development.

The move assumes significance amid growing debate in Goa over land-use changes under Section 39(A) of the TCP Act, a provision introduced in 2024 that allows plot-level zoning modifications through the Town and Country Planning department. The provision has faced criticism from environmental groups and activists, who have alleged that it could enable arbitrary conversion of ecologically sensitive land for construction projects.

Environmental concerns over rapid land conversion and unplanned urbanisation have intensified in recent years in Goa, particularly around coastal belts, wetlands and agricultural land. The Bombay High Court, while hearing matters related to Goa’s land-use regulations last year, also observed that environmental concerns in a “fragile ecosystem” like Goa must outweigh private commercial interests.

With PTI inputs